Musings about roleplaying games and settings by someone who's been at this a long time. Updates M-W-F (I hope.)

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Their Eyes Were the Same -Black Part One of ???

He was one. He was one of many. He was American. He was an expat German. He could walk through walls. He lived in shadows. He was that fleeting glimpse when you turn your head suddenly. That cold finger stroking your cheek when you lie half asleep.

As awesome and terrible as the Green Man and Frankenstein's monster were they were all too real. This was a walking shadow, a scrap of a nightmare spun into lethal reality briefly then returning wherever he came from. Gestapo and S.S. men went mad seeking him. Some were found dead in locked rooms. Plans were stolen from unopened safes. Each scene had a crude drawing drawn or scratched on a wall and the words 'Killroy Was Here.'

Option 1
A Killroy is a highly trained though human operative. A mystery man if you will. This elite unit operates outside the chain of command, known only to the highest echelons of command. A Killroy's training gives him the following advantages

Level XP HD BHB ST
1 2,500 1+1 0 14

2 5,000 2 +1 13

3 7,500 3 +2 12

4 10,000 4 +2 11

5 15,000 5 +3 10

Special Training
The nature of the Killroy unit's training is a mystery. Medical, surgical or mystical techniques are all suspected. Whatever it is conveys the following advantages:

Level 1 (nearly superhuman senses.) All of the character's senses are very acute. Penalties for darkness or smoke are halved. The character rolls with advantage for any tests involving ambushes, surprise attacks and other enemy actions. In more dated terms the character will detect a secret door on a 1-2 as he passes by. Any rolls made against Awareness get a -2 bonus and many rolls such can be waved. The character rolls surprise and initiative with advantage.

Paranormal (clearly superhuman.) The character can see in all but absolute darkness. Hearing and other senses are 4-5 times as acute as normal. They can hear a whisper 10-20 feet away or feel the pattern on a dish. The character can smell lingering traces of chemicals and gets a roll for things like tasting poisoned or spoiled food before ingesting a dangerous amount. They are quite capable of sensing a truck or car coming by feeling the vibrations on the road they stand on. More telling the character has a good idea where people are going to look by reading their body language and rolls with advantage to remain unseen. The character has a sixth sense allowing him a ST to sense attacks coming from behind or from hidden enemies (like a sniper). The character detects secret doors on a 1-3.

Inhuman (high level superhuman). Many secret doors are no longer a challenge to the character who detects masterfully concealed doors on a 1-4. The character can hear people breathing at 30 feet, read print by touch and can appear out of nowhere to startle foes by making a Dexterity roll. In addition to the sixth sense the character appears to be a mind reader, often able to tell if a person is lying by their body language or pheromones with an Awareness roll. They can easily count the number of rounds fired off by a squad and tell which man is reloading.

Character's with heightened senses may be at a disadvantage in many situations. An artillery round going off nearby is much louder to them for example, strong odors can sicken them. In situations like this they may have to make a Constitution roll, possibly at disadvantage for characters with higher levels of the power. Carrying welding goggles, earplugs and filter masks can allow them to make a normal or advantaged roll.

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Risus: The Anything Roleplaying Game is copyright S. John Ross and can be found here -

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